Canada’s 90 Greatest Explorers: Innovation

The final instalment in our roundup of Canada’s 90 greatest explorers, these seven explorers harnessed the power of technology — or invented their own — to break new ground

February 3, 2020

Bill Lishman (FRCGS)1939-2017 | Toronto, Ont.

By Johnny IssalukRCGS Explorer-in-Residence

It was a humbling moment, the first time I met Bill. He was sitting at a side table on the Students on Ice ship prior to our adventure through the Northwest Passage in 2008-09. I had no idea he was a great explorer who had flown through Canada’s skies alongside some of our most famous birds. Not until halfway through the expedition did I realize that the film Fly Away Home was not only based on a true story, but that Bill was Father Goose. I was amazed by everything he had accomplished with the Canada geese and later whooping cranes: he saved the latter species, which was almost extinct, by teaching them to migrate, and he did it in airplanes that he built — after learning to fly despite being colour blind.

Thus, our friendship began. When I was in Ontario I would visit him at his igloo-influenced home on Lake Scugog, called Purple Hill, which he had designed partially underground to be efficient and environmentally friendly. At Purple Hill there were always projects: once, we built a stage in the backyard adorned with tree branches, which was used that evening for celebratory song and dance.

He was an accomplished sculptor, motorcycle racer and explorer, of both poles and the world over — and not merely for the sake of exploration. He wanted to better understand what we need to do to help our world survive.

I miss my talks with Bill, the wisdom he shared so we might all live as best we can. To me, he will always be one of Canada’s greatest explorers.

ISOBEL MOIRA DUNBAR(FRCGS)1918-99 | Ottawa

Pioneering glaciologist and ice researcher, who in the 1950s became the first woman to travel on government ice breakers. Was among the first to use remote sensing for data collection.

FRED ROOTS (FRGCS)1923-2016 | East Sooke, B.C.

Geophysicist and diplomat, led or was part of numerous scientific expeditions at the poles and around the world. He was senior geologist for the first international scientific study of the Antarctic region (1949-52), and later conceived the Polar Continental Shelf Program.

James Cameron1954-| Kapuskasing, Ont.

By Joe MacInnisRCGS Honorary Vice-President

When I’m judging an explorer on their merits, I have five criteria: who they put on their team; the nature of their task; the technology they use or invent to accomplish it; the terrain with which they engage; and the question “How majestic is their story?”

Based on that list, my answer is overwhelmingly James Cameron. He’s led six major deep-sea science and engineering expeditions: three to Titanic, one to Bismarck, one to Pacific and Atlantic hydrothermal vent systems and, of course, one to the Challenger Deep (his solo dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench).

Start by looking at his teams. He pulls in the best minds — from NASA, from the Russian Academy of Sciences, from universities all over. He wants to be challenged. So when you’re on an expedition with Cameron, standing at the daily engineering meeting, you’re looking at a room of real cognitive and emotional talent.

And what can I say about his tasks? He’s gone down to 4,000 metres, then 11,000 metres. And crucially, he’s combined those feats with art and science because every expedition has ended with a stunning documentary. His primary objective? To inspire a love of science and engineering in young people.

Then we come to technology. Cameron used Russian Mir submarines to dive on Titanic, but then he built his own. His 11-kilometre solo dive to the ocean’s deepest point, in 2012, was done in a sub that came out of his mind. I remember him first talking about the idea for his Deepsea Challenger submersible in 2003. Over the years, he took it to sketches, which he and his team then took to computer graphics, to blueprints, to models, and finally to the real beast. He’s also invented lighting and camera systems, and was an advisor to NASA on the cameras and lights used on Mars.

Finally, his stories. Cameron’s documentaries Ghosts of the Abyss (investigating Titanic) and Aliens of the Deep (exploring life in Atlantic and Pacific mid-ocean ridges and volcanic vents) were groundbreaking, but not to be forgotten are his feature films in which the ocean is central: The Abyss and Titanic. For all its gifts, Titanic in particular shifted our understanding of the ocean and its power. Meanwhile, I would argue that Avatar is the most important environmental film ever made in terms of audience reach. How many hundreds of millions saw that? As Cameron will tell you, it was informed by insights he gained exploring those deep-sea vents years before.

DAVID SCHINDLER (FRCGS)1940- | Edmonton

Renowned environmental scientist who pioneered large-scale investigations of whole lakes as director of the Experimental Lakes Area, Kenora, Ont. His acid rain research and other studies have resulted in specific protection measures for world freshwater resources.

PHIL NUYTTEN (FRCGS)1941- | Vancouver

Deep-sea explorer and inventor of diving equipment and submersibles that have allowed humans to dive deeper, more safely. The founder of companies such as Nuytco Research Ltd., his hard-suits (the Newtsuit and the Exosuit) are used by explorers and navies around the globe.

ELON MUSK 1971- | Kingston, Ont.

SpaceX’s CEO and chief designer, working toward crewed interplanetary space travel and rapidly reducing the expense of space flight. SpaceX was the first private company to launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft and to send a craft to the ISS.